Our Metropolitan Care RFI for helpdesk services attracted a new kind of provider that uses a business model closer to that of the Web ASP (application service provider) than the MSP (managed service provider) found in our comparative review. These service providers let users help themselves to reduce helpdesk costs. Metro viewed these options as additional tools for the helpdesk, but they can be solutions in themselves.
For the same reasons that self-service islands appeared at filling stations, self-help Web sites have begun to carve a niche in IT support revenue. People feel good about helping themselves. Many have used this concept by mounting pages on intranets and extranets with information for customers. Rather than answer 10 calls on the same question, the helpdesk can place the answer on the Web so customers can help themselves, reducing the calls and repetitive answers. Providers such as 911Helpline.com, PatchLink.com Corp. and SafeHarbor Technology Corp. are willing to take on your intranet or Web site and provide IT support over the Web.
Through an Internet portal, subscribers access knowledge bases (see "Bases of Knowledge Management), forums and chat rooms that provide information on shrink-wrapped and other applications to resolve problems. These sites may also provide direct access to helpdesk personnel via live chat, e-mail or phone. The services will even go so far as to deliver applications and updates over the Web, interrogate nodes for inventory information, and engage remote diagnostic tools and remote-control applications to help resolve end-user problems.
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RFI Responses
911Helpline.com, PatchLink.com and SafeHarbor answered Metro's RFI with confidence and substance, but did not provide the most cost-effective solutions and lacked resources for on-site support. PatchLink.com focuses on providing Metro with its WebConsole HelpDesk module. This is a good buy, which we looked at in December (see "PatchLink.com Brings Remote Management Online"); however, Metro is not in the market for software, but for services. 911Helpline and SafeHarbor gave us their views of the next generation of helpdesks. If Metro scaled back its RFI and looked to relieve the helpdesk of repetitive calls for application support, it would investigate Web ASPs as a support tool and favor a solution such as SafeHarbor's.
911Helpline.com
911Helpline provides customers with access to a network of IT support technicians through ITInfoSource. com. Powered by Raging Knowledge technology, 911Helpline can match customers with expert technicians in interactive online consulting sessions using voice, type and chat functionality. This service supports all Metro's PC applications but does not support Apple Macintosh, Palm or PeopleSoft applications.
911Helpline can also deliver applications and updates to Metro's desktops using LANovation's PictureTaker with eshare Communications' NetAgent. Like SafeHarbor, 911Helpline would need to partner with another provider to supply on-site support.
If Metro were in the market for technical support for shrinkwrapped applications running on Windows, 911Helpline would certainly receive a callback.
SafeHarbor's Web-based support services include some of the same technical support information we find at Metro's helpdesk. For example, SafeHarbor supports all operating systems and applications running at Metro. SafeHarbor develops, hosts and maintains a support site that makes available "relative knowledge"through knowledge bases and help pages.
SafeHarbor includes an operations center where technical support staff answer questions using previous incidents or cases, e-mail, chat and phone. For personalization, SafeHarbor will integrate its self-help pages into a client's Web site; Metro's end users may not even be aware that SafeHarbor is the provider.
Moving onto the MSP track, SafeHarbor will partner with other providers to satisfy on-site maintenance and support contracts. On this track, we see companies such as EDS incorporating "portals" into their own services. EDS' "zero-level helpdesk/Quick2Know" service, powered by Motive Communications, takes on a Web-based delivery approach to provide services ranging from automated self-repair and/or self-healing to assisted services.
Large service providers like EDS are learning from ASPs like SafeHarbor and acquiring and developing the technologies to provide services through Internet portals to reduce their IT support loads. And by partnering with other service providers, Web ASPs are increasing their offerings in the MSP area to include on-site support and maintenance. SafeHarbor indicated its willingness to partner with another provider, though its preferred solution favors just the Web ASP model.
The next generation of helpdesks will incorporate the best offerings from MSPs and Web ASPs. It will offer a range of granular services that include call centers, self-help portals, and on-site support with variable and flexible pricing structures for the enterprise.
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